NEWS FLASH - FUTURE PLANS!

There is no doubt that artcymru is now, the most popular arts site in Wales, with over 200,000 hits last month,  February. All indications show March being another bumper month, membership is growing, as more artists join weekly. Our ambition to build a hub site for Wales, Welsh Culture and the Arts , is becoming a reality, with an increasing number of both commercial and public Galleries, linking to the site.
We have now decided to embark on the next exiting phase, developing artcymru, even further.
Firstly we would like to include, the writers and musicians of Wales , while at the same time launching artshop - The online store for Welsh Art, Music, and Books.
So, why not join us, and help promote the best of Welsh culture, to the rest of the World.
SEE ARTIST JOIN US NOW

Updated 5th March 2003

We are now up and running at the Swansea office. Bernard, Nigel and Llew share the hours between them. It's not open every day, due to other work commitments (teaching etc) but if we secure the funding from the Arts Council we may well be able to man the office on a full-time basis... we live in hope!

As you may be aware, we have recently gained a little support from ELWA (Education and Learning Wales) to provide some pages targeted at the post-16 age group of learners. Having completed the work we were then required to produce supportive evidence from artists, and educational establishments, as part of the payment conditions. During our search for support we received a wonderful letter from International artist Brenda Oakes. Indeed, I think I would have had trouble writing something so supportive myself. We were so grateful we have decided to reprint the letter here for our members and readers.
To Brenda... Thanks!

25 February 2002

Dear Nigel
I would like to congratulate you on your artcymru website, which I consider to be the nearest thing we have in this country to an arts magazine for Wales. It provides a wonderful resource for both artists and audience and it more than fills the gap left by the demise of the Association of Artists and Designers in Wales and the magazine produced by that organization 'Link', which is still talked about and sorely missed by artists here.

In my opinion, Britain is not served well in the area of arts marketing. Our 'national' artists' website AXIS, could soon I fear suffer from its own success as the number of artists subscribing to it is increasing rapidly; as a result it is a cumbersome beast to navigate by those searching for practitioners of certain art forms and sheer numbers may hamper its effectiveness in providing work for those represented. Wales is in desperate need of an Arts Council funded resource of this nature and artists should be lobbying for one on the grounds that we are a separate country from England and we and our country's profile would benefit from the existence of such a provision. Artcymru.co.uk would provide a ready-made base upon which to build it. The recent pronouncements from the Assembly on the intention to promote awareness of the arts of Wales outside the country emphasise this need.

There is so much included in the website that is not to be found in any other that I am surprised that it is being run on a semi-voluntary basis. I visit it regularly to update myself on what is happening in the arts in Wales. There is really very little coverage in the Welsh media and that which does exist is usually presented in a less than serious manner. If funded, artcymru could provide a necessary forum for in-depth discussion on a broad range of relevant subjects, a task which it has already begun. I believe that it has the potential to lead the way in the provision of an online arts magazine, which I believe will soon compete with printed arts magazines which are becoming increasingly expensive to produce and buy. Artcymru is amazingly good value, particularly when compared, again, to Axis which I believe charges extremely high fees to artists who wish to be represented.

With regard to its educational role, artcymru has again set a precedent in its housing of The Welsh Arts Archive, an important collection which has, amazingly, been published free on the artcymru website. This kind of accessibility is what the Arts Council of Wales is promoting constantly; but where is the funding to support this kind of initiative? The numbers visiting the website are evidence that the work of Welsh artists is being displayed worldwide via its interesting and comprehensive pages. I download many articles myself for my own reference library and my own ongoing education.

I send you good wishes for your future success and hope that you can keep up the good work supported with the funding which should have been forthcoming from the outset of your venture.

Yours sincerely

Brenda Oakes

E-mail us with your views,
on any issues at:
Email us

or, drop us one of those handwritten things, er letters I think they're called?
Room 3,
Queen's Building,
Cambrian Place,
Swansea
SA1 1TW
Tel:

EXHIBITING AT THE ROYAL CAMBRIAN ACADEMY ANNUAL OPEN EXHIBITION
We recently received a request for information regarding the entry process for exhibiting at the Royal Cambrian Academy Annual Open Exhibition. I must admit that I had no idea how to get work accepted in this show, I had never seen a call for entries, or heard of anyone successfully submitting work for the event.
So, to satisfy my curiosity also, I called the Academy office and put the question to them and was told the following...
If you wish to have your work considered for exhibition at the open show you must write to the Academy, in early May, stating your interest. The members of the Academy may then invite you to submit slides, from which selection is made .

And there I was thinking that nepotism still ruled at the Academy...

PLEASE NOTE

WE WELCOME ALL COMMENTS AT www.artcymru.co.uk

GET YOUR VIEWS HEARD!

We received a really nice review from 'Planet' - the Welsh Internationalist' Magazine (Issue 150).
In this article we were compared to two other leading web sites www.welshdrawings.com
and gallery 4wales.com
We were delighted to read that we are considered as a leading art web site.
It has to be said that www.artx.co.uk is also well worth a visit. They started some time after us, with a similar format, and now have a site well worth a visit.

Thanks to Malcolm Parr , Keith Bayliss ,
Mel Gooding , Iwan Bala and Brenda Oakes for their valued contributions to the site.

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